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successful programs in the United States. The marine law
enforcement operations grew from the DEA’s close coordination
with the U.S. Coast Guard, while vehicular interdiction
originated from the DEA’s Operation Pipeline, EPIC’s national
highway interdiction program.
With DEA support, Bolivian troops burned a cocaine
conversion lab.
Carlos Lehder Extradition
(1987)
In 1981, Carlos Lehder was indicted on U.S. federal charges in
Jacksonville, Florida, and a request for his extradition from
Colombia was formally presented to that government in 1983.
Up until that time, no extradition requests had been honored
by the Colombian Government. Lehder, a major cocaine
trafficker, had formed his own political party and adopted a
platform which was vehemently opposed to extradition. He
viewed cocaine as a very powerful weapon that could be used
against the United States and referred to the substance as an
atomic bomb. Lehder also claimed that he was allied with the
Colombian guerilla movement, M-19, in an effort to protect
Colombian sovereignty.
Fanatical in his efforts to prevent extradition, Lehder was
instrumental in forcing a political debate on the merits of
extradition and publicly faced off against Colombia’s Justice
Minister, Rodrigo Lara-Bonilla. When Lara-Bonilla was suddenly
murdered in 1984, Lehder and the Medellin cartel, who
had hidden behind the pseudonym “The Extraditables,” were
suspected. Embarrassed and outraged by the terrorist tactics
employed by the Medellin organization, the Colombian Government
turned Lehder over to the DEA and extradited him to
the United States in February 1987. Lehder was convicted and
sentenced to 135 years in federal prison. He subsequently
cooperated in the U.S. investigation of Panama dictator Manuel
67
Carlos Lehder
conceived the
idea of
transporting
loads of cocaine
from Colombia to
the United States.
Noriega and received a reduced sentence in return for his
testimony. However, the Medellin reign of terror did not end.
The Medellin cartel was responsible for the murders of many
government officials, including Attorney General Carlos Mauro
Hoyos-Jiminez in 1988, and presidential candidate Luis Carlos
Galan in 1989.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of
1988
The 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act (PL 100-690) increased criminal
penalties for offenses related to drug trafficking and
created new federal offenses and regulatory drug control
requirements. Federal funding for state and local drug enforcement
grant programs were also bolstered under this law.
The 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act also expanded a change to the
certification process established by the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse
Act. The 1986 legislation required all certified countries to
sign a treaty with the United States that addressed drug
eradication, interdiction, demand reduction, chemical control,
and cooperation with U.S. drug enforcement agencies. The
1988 act went a step further and made it unlawful to certify a
country’s compliance unless it had signed such a treaty.
Another requirement called for the Secretary of the Treasury
to initiate negotiations with governments whose banks were
known to engage in significant U.S. dollar transactions. This
requirement helped to identify money laundering and illicit
drug transaction funds.
Perhaps the most significant provision of this legislation was
the creation of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP) and it’s director, the “Drug Czar.”